I've read about the feasibility in Popular Science a while back, so I guess it's possible. Although, looking at the website, if this is real, it'll be a long time before such a product hits markets since there's no factories yet and they're looking for investors.

It's an interesting idea certainly, and good for the environment, and since most of the gas stations I've ever been to have access to compressed air, it's not even all that impracticle, assuming of course they only need a standard amount of compression. Or if that failed one could always buy a gas powered compressor for the time being. It'll be interesting to see more information on it later, I doubt it'll succede any time soon in this country since most people seem to have the attitude of "you'll get the keys to my gas-guzzling, unnecessarily large, environmentallly devestating SUV when you pry them from my cold dead hands". Not to say that some people don't need large cars, though having large numbers of children's not exactly good either, but many people buy cars like that to transport themselves and no one else.

Is it just me or has popular science become the refuge of fringe researchers and art bell zealots?

I mean a just a couple years ago they ran this huge article saying that internet access in the future would be provided by helecopters who hover above metropolitan areas with giant sattelite dishes mounted to their undersides, replacing traditional land-lines. And they were dead-serious too.

Not to mention all the other half-baked shit they decide to report on.. It's become the enqurer of the science world.

The scary part is that... you are right. They do need to decide what is actually realistic and what is just plain stupid like that elevator that some investors want to make that goes from Earth to space.

Really, okay, it's a cool idea and everything, but it's not a whole lot different from other alternate fuel transporation mechanisims. Like electricity, they claim zero-emissions operation, which is a half-truth. The compressed air, the energy to compress the air, the electricity, it has to come from somewhere, probably a power plant.

Still, a power plant is probably more effective at producting energy per amount of pollution, so it's still a cleaner solution than gasoline..

Besides, if a high power alternative does get developed and become feasable, its a lot easier to build a few and hook them into the power grid then it is to replace engines or what have you in millions of cars.

The downside is that you create a single point of failure. If everything is dependant on the power grid and it goes down, you're in serious trouble.

Well the nasa article talks mostly about just a line tied to an asteroid in geosynchronous orbit, used to rapidly deploy sattelites or to get equipment into space, which, I guess could be possible.. Still sounds awfully silly though.

Those other idiots are talking about tying a cable to the fucking moon or even TO MARS, which is just absurd.. Or what about when mars is now on the opposite side of the solar system? Why don't people just THINK about these things.. holy shit, how stupid can you be!!